ALPHA-FETOPROTEIN. AFP was first recognized as a fetal-specific globulin in 1956. It is synthesized in the yolk sac, gastrointestinal tract and liver of the fetus. Fetal plasma levels peak at 10 to 13 weeks' gestation and decline progressively until term, 7 while maternal levels peak in the third trimester.2 Laboratory measurements of AFP levels are reported as multiples of the median (MOM).etal plasma levels peak at 10 to 13 weeks' gestation and decline progressively until term, 7 while maternal levels peak in the third trimester. 2 Laboratory measurements of AFP levels are reported as multiples of the median (MOM).
Minority population growing in the United States, census estimates show. Minorities now make up about 35% of the country's population, and about 57% of the population in California. Meanwhile, the white population continues to decline.
2000 United States Census. The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 Census.